Mark Cavendish claimed overall victory at the Tour of Qatar after a narrow defeat on the concluding fifth stage.

Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) won his third stage of the five-day race, but Cavendish (Team Dimension Data) secured the gold jersey by five seconds. A photo finish determined Kristoff had beaten Cavendish by a miniscule margin but the Norwegian was runner-up to the British rider overall.

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The victory constituted the first general classification success of the season for Team Dimension Data. Cavendish spared a thought for his team-mate Edvald Boasson Hagen, who suffered a puncture on Thursday to relinquish the gold jersey.

“Obviously it’s nice to be wearing gold now, but I know I am only wearing it on behalf of Edvald,” Cavendish said. “He only lost it because of bad luck and not through any other kind of cause.

“He should be the guy wearing this gold jersey but we are just super happy to keep it in Team Dimension Data.”

After showing his road form at the venue for October’s Road World Championships, Cavendish can now turn his attention to the track, with the Track World Championships taking place in London in early March. He is also seeking to ride the six-discipline omnium for Britain at the Rio Olympics.